There were a few chattering teeth among the mile-wide smiles at Queenstown Bay early on Saturday afternoon.
A total of 25 hardy souls lined up to take part in the second annual Winter Legend open-water swim, part of The Whakatipu Legend series, organised by Richie Lambert and Lucas Fornes.
Swimmers had the option of taking part in the 500m "Frigid" swim, or the 1km "Bone Chilling" event — a handful doing so without wetsuits.
While the air temperature was hovering around a balmy 13°C, the water temperature was about 9°C.
The 500m event was won by Jacob Marriott, 17, of Queenstown, in 8 minutes and 28 seconds, while the first female home in that category was Sophie Hutchens in 9:36, and the first swimmer without a wetsuit was Anneke Veenstra in 10:50:4.
Mr Church said it was a tight contest at the front of the group — "we were literally pushing each other around the course".
"It was a bit chilly — fresh, I would say."
Meanwhile, entries open this Sunday for next year’s The Whakatipu Legend, being held on March 23, in which swimmers will jump from the TSS Earnslaw into the lake in Frankton Arm for the main event, before a 4km swim into Queenstown Bay.
